Release Round-Up: Week of January 14

Bruce Springsteen, High Hopes (Columbia)

It’s a new album, but one assembled from songs and outtakes Bruce has been amassing for the last few years: we’ll take it (in the hope that this new album means Bruce is in a vault mood for the rest of the year)! (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. – both with exclusive DVD of the entire Born in the U.S.A. album live on the Wrecking Ball tour)

Elvis Presley, The Movie Soundtracks (RCA/Sony Music U.K.)

Why should the States get all the fun? An import box set featuring 20 discs of Elvis’ film soundtracks (some great, others…a little different). (Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.)

Lone Justice, This is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes (Omnivore)

A spirited studio set cut two years before the band’s acclaimed debut album on Geffen Records. A must for rockabilly fans!

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Mark Lanegan, Has God Seen My Shadow? An Anthology 1989-2011 (Light in the Attic)

A killer career-spanning compilation from the ex-Screaming Trees frontman, featuring a dozen unreleased tracks.

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Lucinda Williams, Lucinda Williams: Deluxe Edition (Thirty Tigers)

First released on Rough Trade Records and long out of print, the album with some of Williams’ best known compositions (“Passionate Kisses,” “I Wanted to See You So Bad,” “Changed the Locks”) is expanded with not only the live bonus tracks from a previous remaster but another contemporaneous live show that’s never been released before.

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Li’l Abner: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Columbia/Sony Masterworks)

The long-unavailable soundtrack to the 1959 adaptation of the 1956 musical, featuring a song score by Johnny Mercer & Gene DePaul and arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, is finally released as an on-demand CD title. (CD-R/DD: My Play Direct)

Billy Paul, Feelin’ Good at the Cadillac Club (Big Break Records) / Dan Hartman, Relight My Fire: Expanded Edition / Sheryl Lee Ralph, In the Evening: Expanded Edition (Hot Shot Records)

The latest from BBR includes a reissue of Philadelphia soul legend Billy Paul’s debut (studio) album and two expanded titles from underrated greats Dan Hartman and Sheryl Lee Ralph.

Billy Paul: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
Dan Hartman: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
Sheryl Lee Ralph: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.

John Baldry, Boogie Woogie: The Warner Bros. Recordings / Taj Mahal, Sing a Happy Song: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings / John Sebastian, The Reprise Recordings / Crazy Horse, Scratchy: The Complete Reprise Recordings / Doug Sahm, The Genuine Texas Groover: The Complete Atlantic Recordings / The Blasters, The Slash Recordings / Danny O’Keefe, Classics / Hubert Laws, Carnegie Hall / The Chicago Theme / Crying Song / How to Beat the High Cost of Living (with Earl Klugh) / Say It with Silence (Wounded Bird)

We told you about Wounded Bird’s Rhino Handmade budget reissues yesterday, but there’s also a bunch of straight reissues from jazz flutist Hubert Laws due from the label today, too.

John Baldry: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Taj Mahal: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
John Sebastian: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Crazy Horse: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Doug Sahm: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
The Blasters: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Danny O’Keefe: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Carnegie Hall: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
The Chicago Theme: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Crying Song: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
How to Beat the High Cost of Living: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Say It with Silence: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Lucinda Williams’ Self-Titled LP Back Into Print, Expanded for January

Lucinda Williams’ self-titled third record – arguably, featuring her first great moments as a country singer-songwriter – will get reissued as a double-disc set next month on the artist’s new imprint label, affiliated with independent label Thirty Tigers.

Initially released on the Rough Trade label, Lucinda Williams saw the Louisiana native craft a unique blend of country, folk, blues and rock that was miles away from her first two records for Smithsonian Folkways in 1979 and 1980 (the former of which was all covers). Tracks like “Crescent City,” “Passionate Kisses,” “Changed the Locks” and “Side of the Road” were alternately celebratory and heartrending, bursting forth with unbridled emotion. “Passionate Kisses” was covered by Mary Chapin Carpenter in 1993, winning a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance (and another nod for Song of the Year) in 1994; “Changed the Locks” was covered by Tom Petty for the soundtrack to She’s the One in 1996, while Ben Folds delivered a stirring version of “Side of the Road” for an EP in 2005.

As for Williams, she continued to work deliberately, releasing only two albums in the next decade: Sweet Old World for the Chameleon label in 1992, and signing with major label Mercury for the critically-acclaimed Car Wheels on a Gravel Road in 1998. Her most recent album, Blessed, was released in 2011.

Out of print for over a decade, Lucinda Williams features the album remastered from the original tapes, having recently been discovered after years of misplacement. A bonus disc combines an unreleased 1989 live show from The Netherlands with a fistful of live radio sessions first released on a 1998 CD reissue. The package is rounded out with liner notes from Robin Hurley (former A&R for Rough Trade) and music journalist Chris Morris.

The new remaster, which will also be available on vinyl, hits stores January 14. After the jump, check out the full track list, plus Amazon links.

Release Round-Up: Week of June 18

Patty Duke, Don’t Just Stand There/Patty / Sings Songs from Valley of the Dolls/Sings Folk Songs (Time to Move On) (Real Gone Music)

All four of Patty’s United Artists albums released on a pair of two-fers, including 1968’s unreleased Sings Folk Songs.

The Supremes, Cream of the Crop / Love Child / I Hear a Symphony / Join the Temptations / Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland / Supremes A Go-Go (Motown MS 649, 1966) (Culture Factory)

A bunch of Supremes classics – six albums from 1966’s The Supremes A Go-Go to 1969’s Cream of the Crop, their last with Diana Ross – all get the mini-LP treatment from Culture Factory.

Diana Ross, The Boss /An Evening with Diana Ross (Culture Factory)

Culture Factory also brings Miss Ross’ long out-of-print concert disc back to CD, along with a new, mini-LP edition of the Ashford and Simpson-helmed favorite The Boss.

Julia Fordham, Porcelain / Swept: Deluxe Editions (Cherry Pop)

The second and third LPs by U.K. singer Julia Fordham are expanded and remastered for the first time.

Porcelain: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
Swept: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.

Various Artists, 20 Feet from Stardom: Music from the Motion Picture (Columbia)

The soundtrack to the anticipated new documentary about the best backup singers you might not have known, from Darlene Love to Merry Clayton. (Legacy’s releasing Clayton’s first-ever best-of compilation next month.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Paul Young, Remixes and Rarities (Cherry Pop)

Two discs of rare or new-to-CD bonus material from the ’80s crooner. (Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.)

Various Artists, Woody Guthrie at 100! Live at the Kennedy Center (Legacy)

Not sure if this concert kills fascists, but this CD/DVD tribute to a folk legend, featuring John Mellencamp, Lucinda Williams, Rosanne Cash and more is a fitting way to honor one of the century’s best songwriters. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Eddie Vedder, Johnny Depp, Nick Cave Join “Voices for Justice” on New Soundtrack

When not telling the story of The Hobbit on Middle Earth, film producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh are hoping this winter to bring a different, real-life story to light.  West of Memphis is their new documentary film directed by Amy Berg (Best Documentary Oscar nominee Deliver Us from Evil), so named for the Arkansas city of West Memphis in which three eight-year old boys were tragically killed in 1993.  The film chronicles the battle to prove the innocence of the three young men convicted for the heinous crime, each of whom spent over eighteen years in prison while supporters collected the evidence that eventually led to their freedom.   On January 15, Legacy Recordings will release West of Memphis: Voices for Justice, a tie-in album to the documentary featuring contributions from Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Marilyn Manson, Eddie Vedder, Johnny Depp and others.

Damien Echols (a producer of the film), Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were all teenagers when they became the target of the police’s investigation.  Members of the music community including Henry Rollins, Natalie Maines, Dave Navarro, Manson and Vedder all became vocal in supporting Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley’s pleas for justice to be served.  In the press release for Legacy’s new release in support of the West Memphis Three, Echols stated, “Music has always played a huge role in my life. In my early years, it allowed me to escape the crushing poverty I was born into. Music took me out of myself and into a thousand other worlds. Then, when I was put on trial, it was music they used against me. My love of heavy metal was considered ‘proof’ that I was evil and a satanic murderer. And then, ultimately, it was music that helped to free me when friends and supporters came together to put on the Voices for Justice concert in Little Rock.”

After the jump: more including the complete track listing and pre-order link!

Lost Highway, Found on Vinyl: 10th Anniversary Box Coming Next Month

With a name like Lost Highway Records, it might be tough to parse the mission statement of such a company – unless, of course, you know your Hank Williams. In fact, they’ve been supplying fans with some of the best in alternative rock and country. And now, to celebrate a decade in business, next month sees the release of a mega-vinyl box set highlighting some of the label’s best output.

Lost Highway, founded in 2000 by Luke Lewis, started their existence off with a bang, distributing the massively successful soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? (reissued and expanded earlier this year, in fact) as well as Ryan Adams’ breakthrough Gold in 2001. Since then, they’ve handled distribution for country legends from Willie Nelson to Lucinda Williams, several of Johnny Cash’s iconic, career-closing American Recordings, albums by rock stalwarts including Elvis Costello and Morrissey, great new rootsy acts like Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears – and yes, even some catalogue action from Hank Williams.

In celebration of the label’s one-decade mark, Lost Highway has been releasing some of their most famous albums, as well as recent favorites, on limited edition clear vinyl. Next month, to finish off the celebration, all 19 of those reissued albums will be boxed together. Only 500 boxes will be available worldwide, 250 of which are now available on Amazon.

After the jump, check out the LPs that are going to be in the box! (A special thanks to the great Buy These Records for the tip; fans of The Second Disc will likely find a lot to like about this site.)